The promotion effects of noble metals upon the activity and reducibility in steam methane reforming over $Ni/MgAl_2O_4$ catalysts were investigated. While $Ni/MgAl_2O_4$ catalysts require the pre-reduction by $H_2$, the noble metal-added catalysts show high catalytic activities without pre-treatment. According to $CH_4$-TPR, the addition of noble metal makes the $Ni/MgAl_2O_4$ catalyst easily reducible. The reduction degree of NiO in the noble metal-added catalysts after using at $650^{circ}C$ without pre-reduction was $15{sim}20%$, and was lower than that in the $H_2$-reduced $Ni/MgAl_2O_4$ catalyst(reduction degree=27%). The enhancement of the catalytic activity over noble metal-added catalysts results from easier reducibility by addition of noble metal and the synergy effect between noble metal and Ni.