(Adds details on stocks and sectors throughout and updates prices)
* TSX falls 29.41 points, or 0.19 percent, to 15,667.77
* Eight of the TSX's 10 main groups decline
TORONTO, April 7 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Friday as the financials group lost ground, while gold mining shares climbed after escalating geopolitical tensions boosted gold prices.
A disappointing U.S. jobs report added to investors' nervousness following a U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base. shares fell 0.5 percent as Canada's 10-year yield hit a four-month low at 1.505 percent.
Higher bond yields would reduce the value of insurance companies' liabilities and increase net interest margins of banks.
Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO fell 0.6 percent to C$97.23, while Manulife Financial Corp MFC.TO lost 0.9 percent to C$23.18.
Bank of Montreal BMO.TO , Canada's fourth-biggest lender, said its Chief Operating Officer Darryl White will step up to be chief executive in November, succeeding Bill Downe who will retire. shares dipped 0.2 percent to C$99.76.
At 10:57 a.m. ET (1457 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE fell 29.41 points, or 0.19 percent, to 15,667.77.
Eight of the index's 10 main groups were lower, with energy down 0.2 percent even as oil prices rose on concerns that the conflict in Syria could spread in the oil-rich region. crude CLc1 prices were up 1.0 percent to $52.2 a barrel.
The materials group, which includes precious and base metals miners and fertilizer companies, added 0.8 percent.
Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO rose 1.0 percent to C$26.12, while gold futures GCc1 climbed 1.2 percent to $1,265.7 an ounce. GOL/
Barrick's near billion-dollar deal with Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd 600547.SS represents a rich premium for the Canadian miner, while making good on a long-promised plan to forge deep, long-lasting partnerships with China. employers added a greater-than-expected 19,400 jobs in March, Statistics Canada said in a report that suggested Canada's economy has finally turned the corner.