Safe-haven currencies JPY and CHF strengthened against other major currencies in the European session on Thursday as the Federal Reserve downplayed hopes for a quick economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Fed's officials kept interest rates unchanged at their latest meeting and projected they would remain near zero through 2022. The central bankers also said they would maintain the current pace of bond purchases for the coming months. They also expect that coronavirus will continue to "weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation in the near term". The policymakers see the U.S. economy to shrink by 6.5% this year before expanding by 5% in 2021. 

Rising coronavirus cases in many countries, including the United States, as lockdowns ease also weighed on investors' sentiment. According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 7.4 million cases of the COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide, including over 2.0 million in the U.S.