FTSE seen opening 15 points higher

LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 index .FTSE is seen opening 15 points higher on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers, having closed down 129.8 points, or 2.4 percent at 5,320.4 in the previous session.

European shares are set to rebound after heavy losses on Tuesday, after Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose to track a surge in Chinese stocks and help ease concerns about emerging economies.

Heavyweight commodity shares may help support the bluechip index in early trade, after U.S. crude climbed above $115 a barrel, as a lower U.S. dollar rekindled buying in oil and other commodities.

With little on the economic and calendar, meaningful direction may be hard to find however, although minutes from the Bank of England's August meeting may offer clues on future interest rates.

"Strong numbers from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N) after the close on Wall Street last night certainly showed that there is some positive news out there despite the woes that continue to linger over the financial sector whilst rising crude prices should lend a degree of support to the petrochemicals heavyweights too," said Matt Buckland, a dealer at CMC Markets.

According to Reuters calculations at current market prices, FTSE 100 companies due to go ex-dividend and take 15.8 points off the index, include Anglo American (AAL.L) Barclays (BARC.L), BT Group (BT.L) and HSBC (HSBA.L).

(Reporting by Michael Taylor)