* Cyprus aims to exempt small savers from deposit tax
* U.S. housing starts on tap
* Futures: S&P up 1.1 pts; Dow up 3 pts; Nasdaq off 1.5 pts
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Tuesday amid caution ahead of a crucial vote in Cyprus that could lead the country into default, as investors waited to see if the nation's troubles would have a wider impact in the euro zone.
* Cyprus's parliament was set to reject a divisive tax on bank deposits in a vote scheduled for Tuesday, a government spokesman said. The government has proposed to spare small savers from the tax in a bid to win parliamentary backing for an international bailout and avoid default and a banking collapse.
* A weekend announcement that Cyprus would break with previous practice and impose a levy on bank accounts as part of a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) EU bailout prompted some turmoil on European financial markets on Monday.
* Investors awaited U.S. housing starts and permits data for February, due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). Economists surveyed by Reuters forecast a 915,000 annualized rate in February versus 890,000 in January, and a total of 925,000 permits in February compared with 904,000 in the prior month.
* S&P 500 futures added 1.1 points, in line with fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones (DJI: ^DJI - news) industrial average futures added 3 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures lost 1.5 points.
* Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C - news) has agreed to pay $730 million to settle a class action lawsuit on behalf of investors who said they were misled by the company's disclosures.
* BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK - news) , the world's largest money manager, will lay off nearly 300 employees, or about 3 percent of its workforce, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters.
* The head of Valero Energy Corp said Monday his company is not pursuing a sale of its two California refineries, ending months of speculation over whether it was seeking buyers for the two plants.
* Boeing Co (NYSE: BA - news) technical workers voted by a wide margin to ratify a new four-year labor agreement with the company, ending the possibility of a strike that could have cut production at a critical time for the aircraft maker.
* Drugmaker Affymax Inc said it was considering selling itself or filing for bankruptcy among a range of alternatives, as it struggles to stay afloat following the recent recall of its sole commercial product, the anaemia drug Omontys.
* Intersections Inc (NasdaqGM: INTX - news) , a provider of identity theft protection, said its full-year revenue will fall as much as 15 percent as regulatory scrutiny causes financial services companies to pull back on marketing its products.
* U.S. stocks fell on Monday after a plan to tax bank accounts in Cyprus to help pay for the country's bailout stoked worries that it could threaten the stability of financial institutions in the euro zone.
