Stocks opened flat on Thursday as a weak reading on the labor market and rumors of a French sovereign debt downgrade offset better-than-expected results from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley.

Bank of America Corp climbed 2.6 percent to $9.15 after its results while Morgan Stanley was up 4.5 percent to $18.47.

New claims for weekly jobless benefits came in above forecasts, dampening hopes of a pick-up in job creation in April.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 3.70 points, or 0.03 percent, at 13,036.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 0.12 points, or 0.01 percent, at 1,385.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 1.66 points, or 0.05 percent, at 3,029.79.

(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Morgan Stanley