Sector movers: Sage, AVEVA drag software sector lower

Software stocks were in the red on Monday with steep falls from heavyweights Sage and AVEVA weighing on the sector as it pulled back from strong gains on Friday.Equities in the software sector rose at the end of last week after M&A activity prompted some bullish moves. Technology group Invensys confirmed on Friday that it had become the target of a £3.3bn takeover from French group Schneider Electric, causing the share price to rocket.The sector rose by nearly 4.0% on the whole with Market Strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital saying at the time that it was "encouraging to see M&A activity pick-up, demonstrating that corporates are looking to put their money to work after years of hoarding it during the financial crisis."As for Monday, business management software firm Sagem was trading 3.79% lower at 353p this afternoon ahead of its trading update next Tuesday. Morgan Stanley today reiterated its 'equal weight' stance on the stock, keeping its 320p target price unchanged which suggests nearly 13% downside from Friday's closing price.AVEVA, which creates engineering software for plant, power and marine industries, was also a heavy faller after its share consolidation - approved last week by shareholders - became effective. The company said in May that it would return around £100m to shareholders via a special dividend, which would be accompanied by a share consolidation to maintain the share price.Fidessa, Telecity and Advanced Computer Software were also trading firmly lower today, along with small-cap stocks such as @UK, DRS Data & Research Services, ViaLogy and CSF Group.Top performing sectors so far todayFixed Line Telecommunications 3,918.44 +1.21%Banks 5,099.91 +1.01%Food Producers & Processors 7,592.56 +0.75%Tobacco 38,243.53 +0.67%Personal Goods 24,249.03 +0.66%Bottom performing sectors so far todaySoftware & Computer Services 1,171.89 -1.67%Industrial Metals & Mining 1,144.83 -0.82%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 23,513.38 -0.72%Automobiles & Parts 7,797.45 -0.42%Forestry & Paper 9,694.22 -0.39%BC Sage Group