Tokyo stocks opened higher Wednesday ahead of a long weekend as investors bought on dips following recent declines and took heart from Wall Street rallies.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which had fallen for a fifth straight session on Tuesday, gained 1.32 percent, or 362.87 points, to 27,751.03 in early trade.

The broader Topix index rose 1.22 percent, or 23.03 points, to 1,911.92.

The jumps came after Wall Street regained ground lost the previous day when fears over the Delta variant of Covid-19 dragged the market down to its worst session of the year.

"It's quite natural to see a rebound following the recent losing streak here and rallies on Wall Street," Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP.

Investors shied away from making major bets ahead of a four-day weekend from Thursday, with the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on Friday evening.

"Investors were concerned about the Olympics, but once the Games begin, Olympic news is expected to have a psychologically positive impact on the market," Horiuchi said.

The dollar changed hands at 109.86 yen in early trade, compared with 109.87 yen in New York late Tuesday.

Olympic sponsor firms were higher after the sports programme of the virus-delayed Games began with a softball game between Japan and Australia on Wednesday morning.

Toyota rallied 1.35 percent to 9,742 yen with Asahi Group Holdings up 0.54 percent at 4,959 yen.

Advertising giant Dentsu, which is heavily involved in organising the Tokyo Games, jumped 2.39 percent to 3,845 yen.

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