(MONEY Magazine) – The MONEY 30 rose for the first time in two months as tech stocks made a strong comeback. Our index of stocks representing the New Economy posted an 11% gain for the five weeks that ended April 19. Six of the seven major tech stocks in the index--including Intel, Motorola and Sun Microsystems--posted double-digit returns. These stocks were buoyed by the Federal Reserve's half-point interest-rate cut and a spate of upbeat earnings reports from such bellwethers as IBM and Microsoft. The top gainer for the month was Oracle, which shot up 41% amid the April tech-stock rally.

There were just five losers this month, among them consumer products giants Colgate and Gillette. The biggest loser was Mattel, which posted a 17% slide. The struggling toymaker--home to Barbie and Hot Wheels cars--appeared to be making a comeback in recent months. From September through March, the stock was up 80%. However, investors apparently lost faith in the company when it recently announced a first-quarter loss that was nearly double the loss during the same period a year ago.

--ERICA GARCIA

THE MONEY 30 INDEX, WHICH TRACKS THE PERFORMANCE OF 30 BLUE-CHIP GROWTH STOCKS AT THE FOREFRONT OF TODAY'S ECONOMY, ROSE 11%--TO 3163--FROM MARCH 14 TO APRIL 19. (JANUARY 1996 EQUALS 1000.) GO TO WWW.MONEY.COM FOR REGULAR PRICE UPDATES.