May 23 (Reuters) - The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the

benchmark S&P 500 opened higher on Thursday, driven by strong

gains in chip stocks after Nvidia's upbeat revenue forecast

cemented investor optimism around the meteoric rise of

artificial intelligence technology.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 23.91 points,

or 0.06%, at the open to 39,694.95. The S&P 500 opened

higher by 33.25 points, or 0.63%, at 5,340.26, while the Nasdaq

Composite gained 194.84 points, or 1.16%, to 16,996.39

at the opening bell.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)