Wells Capital Chief Investment Strategist Jim Paulsen said Tuesday a potential "global, synchronized pop in growth" could extend the bull market.
Dollar weakness supported U.S. stocks earlier this year as multinationals prepared to report first-quarter earnings, and greenback-denominated commodities like crude oil rallied. Now, the dollar weakness is beginning to scare investors, Paulsen said, but he's not sure it should.
"Most people look at it as what's driving the dollar is the policy differential between the United States and everywhere else, and I think it's more about the growth differential," he told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street."
Paulsen said he believes the dollar is coming off highs because U.S. growth is weakening while economic activity is picking up in other parts of the world, and not because monetary policy has further diverged.
The flash estimate from Eurostat showed euro zone economic growth advancing a better-than-expected 0.6 percent in the first quarter.
The U.S. Commerce Department's first of three readings put U.S. growth at 0.5 percent year over year in the first quarter, the slowest pace for that period since 2014.
Ultimately, growth abroad should help the U.S. economy accelerate, and that would in turn draw investors back into the stock market.
"I think we're going to get excited if all the economic boats from China to Europe to here lift at the same time. I think that could cause the stock market to make new highs before the year's out," he said.
But it won't necessarily be a smooth path to new highs, Paulsen warned. Investors may well see one more peak followed by a sell-off before the ultimately advances toward 2,200.
