Brainard was apparently perceived to be more dovish than Powell. Hence when Powell was elected gold was sold heavily. Bonds were also sold heavily at the same time (check the US 2Y).
Re inflation, gold is a long term inflation hedge. Conceptually gold is a long term hedge against currency devaluation; purchasing power. Gold will go up over time given the mechanics of our fiat system . The value of money is reflected by real interest rates. The factors of real interest rates are nominal rates, economic growth, CB policy, fiscal policy.
Furthermore there are other factors of the gold price:
- competing yields from other assets, adjusted for risk. - trust in the finance system - economic growth (this encapsulates the other factors in prior paragraph). - volatility
Gold is very complex economically and philosophically and it's often summarised too simply eg 'rates up gold down'. The term inflation also gets thrown around a lot but it means nothing without specifying which type; stagflation (CB, fiscal driven) or inflation via genuine economic growth (2000 - 2007 style). I use the term genuine in the context of our farcical Keynesian fiat system of course.
