Total return for U.S. stocks should surge 10 percent through year-end, propelled by additional easing from the Federal Reserve, says Andrew Wilkinson, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak brokerage firm.

“I’m optimistic on stocks,” he tells Yahoo. “What’s gotten in the way over the last quarter has been the downturn of the U.S. economy inspired by fallout from the eurozone.”

U.S. GDP growth slumped to 1.9 percent in the first quarter from 3 percent in last year’s fourth quarter.

Editor's Note: You Owe It to Yourself to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans

But that weakness should prompt the Fed to engage in another round of quantitative easing, boosting stocks, Wilkinson says.

“What I don't see happening is an all-out collapse in global markets. I do believe that the Fed will come to the rescue and get some of the traction back in that it had generated over the last couple years.”

Wilkinson predicts the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will reach 1,450 by Dec. 31. That represents an 8 percent increase from current levels, and a 10 percent total return including dividends.

Others agree with Wilkinson that the Fed will likely add to its monetary accommodation.

“What we are hearing from Fed Vice Chairman [Janet] Yellen and New York Fed President [William] Dudley, and the minutes of the last meeting, is that there are more risks on the downside,” Donald Kohn, a former Fed vice chairman who is now at the Brookings Institution, tells Bloomberg.

Editor's Note: You Owe It to Yourself to Know What Obama and Bernanke Are Hiding From Americans