Bloomberg Apple Inc. is refusing to participate in an upcoming Senate hearing about anti-competitive practices at online app stores, according to a letter addressed to CEO Tim Cook from Democrat Amy Klobuchar and Mike Lee, a Republican. The letter says the Cupertino, California-based company declined to send a witness for an upcoming hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel …

Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co.’s profit for the first quarter rises 44% from the prior year as the early release of a new flagship smartphone and strong gadget sales softened the blow from a Texas power failure that took one of its factories offline. South Korea’s biggest company posted operating income of 9.3 trillion won ($8.3 billion) for the three months …

Bloomberg Oil traded near $63 a barrel in London as traders awaited weekly US inventory data for the latest steer on the demand recovery. Brent futures climbed 1%, swinging between gains and losses. Attention will shift later to US inventories, after an industry report showed a decline in crude stockpiles but a gain in gasoline holdings. The government data will …