TOKYO: Tokyo stocks opened higher on Tuesday in cautious trade, with a dearth of strong market-moving events after the US market was closed for a holiday.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was up 0.71 percent or 204.17 points at 29,064.25 in early trade, while the broader Topix index gained 0.52 percent or 9.92 points to 1,932.90.

"Ahead of key US jobs data this weekend (Tokyo time), investors in the Japanese market are tending to take to the sidelines," senior strategist Yoshihiro Ito of Okasan Online Securities said in a note.

The dollar fetched 109.42 yen in early Asian trade, against 109.46 yen in European trading hours.

In Tokyo, Toyota was up 1.23 percent at 9,227 yen, Nippon Steel was up 0.51 percent at 2,065.5 yen, and Uniqlo casual wear operator Fast Retailing was up 0.96 percent at 90,030 yen, but Hitachi was off 0.72 percent at 5,774 yen.

On Monday, Paris and Frankfurt both showed drops of 0.6 percent at the close, while the markets in London and New York were shut for holidays.