News: RIO UPDATE 1-UK shares fall as Wall Street rout spreads gloom

• FTSE 100, FTSE 250 volatile in early trade
• Oil majors dip, miners rise
• Just Eat jumps on the main index
• Interserve hands back early rally after rescue plan news

(Adds company news items, analyst quotes, updates share moves)

Dec 21 (Reuters) - UK stocks fell on Friday dragged down by a fresh rout on Wall Street and in Asia overnight and weaker oil stocks weighed, while M&A in the food delivery sector boosted Just Eat.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE was 0.5 percent lower, while the FTSE 250 .FTMC was down 0.2 percent at 1100 GMT as the market wraps up its final full week of trading in 2018.

The blue chips were outperforming their European peers due to their exposure to the mining sector .FTNMX1770 .

Antofagasta ANTO.L climbed nearly 3 percent and was the second biggest gainer on the FTSE 100, while Rio Tinto RIO.L , Glencore GLEN.L , BHP BHPB.L , Anglo American AAL.L rose 1-1.8 percent on higher copper prices.

Still the indices were on track for their worst quarter since 2011, when Europe was battling a sovereign debt crisis, and their worst year since 2008 amid growing worries about slower global growth, Brexit and rising U.S. borrowing costs.

Investors shied away from oil stocks, despite crude prices climbing on signs OPEC's production cuts that start next month will be deeper than expected. Bellwethers Shell RDSa.L and BP BP.L were biggest drags on the main index.

A grim mood on Wall Street, with the Nasdaq closing just shy of a bear market on Thursday, added to weakness in global stocks, as chances of a partial government shutdown and of further hikes in borrowing costs in the world's largest economy spooked investors.

However, investors developed an appetite for Just Eat JE.L as it jumped 3.8 percent to the top of the main index after rival Takeaway.com TKWY.AS struck a 930-million-euro ($1.07 billion) deal to buy larger rival Delivery Hero's DHER.DE activities in Germany.

The British takeaway group was urged to sell assets by a shareholder earlier this week, and analysts have since said that the calls raised possibilities of a potential takeover or go-private deal.

Royal Mail RMG.L shares rose 2.7 percent before the century-old UK firm bids farewell to the blue-chip index as part of the reweightings on Dec. 24.

Nike's better-than-expected results provided temporary respite to the battered retail sector, with JD Sports rising 3.6 percent.

Still, surveys showed that British consumers are their gloomiest in more than five years with business sentiment weakest since the 2016 Brexit referendum.

"I think the main sentiment is going to come after the New Year when we start having retailers' trading statements coming through," said Paul Mumford, a fund manager at Cavendish Asset Management.

Elsewhere on the midcaps, RPC Group Plc RPC.L , Europe's largest plastics packaging firm, eked out a modest gain after it extended the deadline again for Apollo Global Management APO.N to make a firm offer to buy the company or walk away.

The deadline has been extended for the fourth time so far and Bain Capital earlier pulled out of the race without giving a reason.

"If I was a RPC shareholder, I would be anticipating the magic of Christmas more positively but as always with magic, there can/might be an element of illusion," said Peel Hunt analysts.

In small-caps, Interserve sank 2.7 percent after the support services group announced a rescue plan involving a debt-for-equity swap in a bid to avoid a Carillion-style collapse.

The shares, which had rallied as much as 12 percent at the open, are down almost 90 percent year to date. ($1 = 0.8718 euros)

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