U.S. consumer expectations sink to a near-decade low

* Nike slips on downbeat quarterly revenue forecast

* Indexes down: Dow 1.56%, S&P 2.01%, Nasdaq 2.98%

NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed sharply lower in a broad sell-off on Tuesday as dire consumer confidence data dampened investor optimism and fueled worries over recession and the looming earnings season.

The S&P and the Nasdaq fell about 2% and 3% respectively, with Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com weighing the heaviest. The blue-chip Dow shed about 1.6%.

"Markets were fine today until the consumer confidence number came out," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia. "It was weak and markets immediately began selling off."

With the end of the month and the second quarter two days away, the benchmark S&P 500 is on track for its biggest first-half percentage drop since 1970.