By Joanne Chiu

International markets surged and U.S. stock futures gained, buoyed by central-bank and government stimulus measures, and by suggestions of easing U.S.-China tensions.

As of midafternoon Tuesday Hong Kong time, regional benchmarks were rallying. That largely erased the previous session's steep losses, which came after an uptick in coronavirus cases in the U.S. and China dented optimism over the pace of the global economic recovery.

The surge tracked a dramatic reversal in the U.S. on Monday, where indexes swung from early losses to close solidly higher.

More details from the Fed on how it would execute a program to buy individual U.S. corporate bonds, in addition to the exchange-traded funds it has already been purchasing, helped fuel advances on Wall Street.

In Asia, South Korea's Kospi Composite and Japan's Nikkei 225 both gained nearly 5%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose more than 4%. Benchmarks in Hong Kong and Shanghai also advanced.

E-mini S&P 500 futures were up 1.4%, suggesting U.S. stocks could open higher on Tuesday.

Frank Benzimra, head of Asia equity strategy at Société Générale, said the Fed initiative had helped boost markets in Asia. "A combination of monetary and fiscal policies from global governments, including those in the U.S. and Europe, is something that is supporting the equity markets," he said.

Ken Cheung, chief Asian foreign-exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank in Hong Kong, said markets were also lifted by a Bloomberg News report that the Trump administration is preparing a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure-spending proposal, as well by a possible reopening of dialogue between senior officials from the world's two biggest economies.

News organizations including Reuters and the South China Morning Post reported that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Hawaii on Wednesday.

It would be the first high-level U.S.-China meeting since the signing of a phase-one trade deal in January, Mr. Cheung said, and would show the U.S. is opting to settle disputes with China through dialogue rather than going straight to tough action.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against 16 others, fell 0.2% on Tuesday to 90.89.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note, a security seen as a haven, rose to 0.753%, according to Tradeweb, from 0.701% on Monday. Yields move in the opposite direction of prices.

Write to Joanne Chiu at joanne.chiu@wsj.com