The Nikkei index is rising, following the upward trend on Wall Street.

The Japanese stock market may rise, following the overnight gains on Wall Street, as the overnight rise in US stocks was boosted by lower-than-expected US inflation data in November. The Nikkei index futures on the Singapore Exchange rose 205 points to 49,350 points. However, the domestic stock market may be restrained ahead of the Bank of Japan's announcement of its monetary policy decision today, with the market widely expecting the central bank to raise the policy interest rate. The market focus may be on Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's press conference following the meeting, to look for any clues regarding further interest rate hikes. The Nikkei index fell 1.0% to 49,001.50 points at the close on Thursday.