BUZZ-Standard Chartered: rallies as profits not as bad as first feared

** Standard Chartered (HKSE: 2888.HK - news) rises 8 pct despite quarterly profits more than halving, with traders saying weakness not as bad as first feared

** Pretax profits $589 mln v $1.4 bln yr ago

** Q1 income $3.3 bln down 24 pct on Q1 2015

** Two traders say declines in profits and income already priced in

** Bank reported its first annual loss in 26 years in 2015, hurt by commodity exposure and restructuring costs, with shares halving in value since March 2015

** Top riser on FTSE 100, after falling 6 pct into results on Monday

** HSBC up 2.3 pct